Thimble Theatre would go on to launch one of the funniest, most popular comic strip characters of all time. Popeye rose to fame rather quickly after the comic strip series was launched.

The early version of the cartoon sailor is now in public domain, and he's already the star of a slasher movie.

Curiously, the Polish word ‘Figiel’ means ‘joke’ or ‘prank’, a rather fitting surname for the protoplast of a comic strip hero… But whether Rocky himself knew that he became the inspiration for Popeye ...